Systems vs. Creativity. Two concepts that seem contradictory, and yet both are required for business growth.

Without systems, you lose the ability to have freedom from your business. Systems create order and free you from having to put out fires. Systems provide consistent customer experience, eliminate surprises (the unpleasant kind), and enables growth in a predictable manner.

While you need systems, you also need creativity. Creativity delights clients, generates surprises (the pleasant kind), and brings about breakthroughs when you are stuck. It moves you ahead of competition, makes you flexible and adaptable to changing environments, and creates a playful and fun culture.

You can’t grow without systems. You can’t sustain growth without creativity. In fact, I would argue that you need to be systematically creative in your business to truly grow.

So how do you nurture creativity while you are creating order and systems? Here’s an idea … let’s build a lab in your business!

Felicia’s Unofficial Guide To Build A Lab In Your Business:

Allocate a certain percentage of your business resources (time, budget, and manpower) to try “a new thing”. “A new thing” could be anything: a new marketing tactic, a new technology, a new channel of business, a new product, a new way of packaging existing products or services, or a new way of doing business. It can be something that is a little innovative in your business, or a lot (it’s really up to you).

Create a timeline to implement, test, and measure results.

Incorporate the ideas that worked, don’t worry about the ones that didn’t.

Collect feedback and repeat.

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. ~ Albert Einstein

Question 1: In what areas of your business do you need to embrace a dash more creativity?